The Ends Justify the Means
by TapDanceSpiders
Summary: Fred takes polyjuice potion to get one night with George. The next morning, George discovers just who it was last night, and, much to his dismay, Ron walks in just as the truth is coming out.


It was finished.

Fred Weasley sat back and admired his handiwork. A month of brewing and waiting impatiently had finally paid off. It had been extremely difficult hiding it from George all this time. All that was left was to add a few of his brother's hairs and they could pass for twins.

He chuckled at his own joke. He would have a different twin tonight. Unfortunately, this one would never know it. He added the red hairs he had collected the day before and stirred them in with glee.

At last! He gulped down the potion and made a face. The stuff was truly foul. He hid his cauldron and other supplies quickly and ran to the bathroom as he began to morph into his brother.

Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ron, and Ginny were already sound asleep—Fred had seen to that at dinner. Mum and Dad were away for the week doing some special work that Bill wouldn't tell him and George about for the Order.

Fred looked in the mirror. Merlin, he looked good. No wonder George liked Ronald so much. He snuck into Ron's room, empty because he had moved Ron up to the attic with the ghoul.

He found a pair of George's old pajamas that were now Ron's and put them on, messing up his hair a bit. Perfect. Now for the hard part. Fred had to convince his twin that he was their little brother whom said twin had been in love with for years. However, a little firewhiskey could go a long way.

Fred went downstairs to find George, who was sitting in the living room, apparently busy designing something for the joke shop. He looked up when Fred entered the room and was instantly alert. "Ron! I thought you went to bed already."

"Couldn't sleep," Fred replied in his best Ron voice. He went to the kitchen to get some food, hoping it was what Ron would do. He spotted the bottle of firewhiskey. Ron never drank, as far as he knew.

"George…" he said, feigning innocent curiosity, "what's firewhiskey like?" He turned to face his twin, who had followed him into the kitchen. Fred almost laughed aloud. Merlin, the boy had it bad. Ron was pretty obvious, too. He wondered how they could both be so thick not to notice. To him, Percy, Charlie, and Bill, it was obvious.

"Er… well, it's…" George seemed uneasy. Maybe he was afraid of what might happen if he and Ron got drunk. Fred looked up at his twin, who was not taller than him, with pleading eyes, barely concealing his smirk. George could never say no to Ron.

Soon, George was tipsy enough for Fred's needs. Fred, who had decided it would be a bad idea to get drunk himself, had pretended to be drinking along with George.

"George," he said, turning to face his twin. "I really like you." George responded by kissing him tenderly.

Fred blushed. George had… soft lips. He knew how this would end. Tomorrow, George would find out what Fred had done. He would be furious, of course, but Fred knew his twin could never stay mad at him. He would be able to get over George finally after this, and Ron might even find out George fancied him.

He saw nothing wrong with playing his twin like this. And if George was smart about it, he might even win the real Ron in the process. Fred figured the ends justified the means. But for now… he returned his attention to those wonderful lips on his own.

Fred awoke to discover he was back to normal. George was still asleep, his arm around Fred. It was a little sad to be finally letting go of his love, but Fred knew they would all be happier when he did. He actually did support his brothers' love and was glad they would soon admit it to each other, thanks to him.

George stirred. _Here it comes, _Fred thought. _Best get this over with. _He gave his twin a few moments to get his bearings before rolling over and grinning at him. "Good morning, sleepyhead!"

George blinked, staring blankly at Fred, unable to understand the situation. Slowly, his eyes widened. Fred could only assume he was recalling the events of last night.

"Bloody hell, what did I…" George was saying to himself. "Wait." Fred could see the wheels turning in his brother's head as he stared at Fred lying next to him and remembered more details of what had happened. "That was you, wasn't it?" he asked icily.

"Figured it out, eh?" Fred said, still grinning from ear to ear.

"You sick git." George stood up and got dressed without a word.

Fred's smile faded. He hadn't really thought about this part. He had only thought of himself and what would happen when Ron found out. He hadn't taken into account the fact that George didn't know Ron loved him. Fred had just granted his twin's deepest wish, only to take it away and replace it with a nightmare. "Merlin, Georgey, I'm sorry! I didn't—"

"What are you two doing?" Ron had appeared in the doorway. "Why are you in my room? What…" He froze when his eyes fell on Fred lying in his bed. George had finished putting on his shirt and was looking at Ron guiltily.

Ron looked from Fred to George and back, his eyes wide with shock. Fred thought he saw a tear spill just before Ron turned and fled from the room.

"Wait! It's not like that!" George followed Ron out of the room. Fred got up lazily and dressed as the two argued outside.

"George, I really don't care what you do, just don't do it in my room!" Ron was saying when Fred finished dressing and came to the doorway to watch.

"Ronnie, you have to believe me! I never…" George sighed in frustration. "Look, he used Polyjuice potion and got me drunk, okay?"

Ron shot Fred a confused look before turning back to George. "Who did he change into?"

"You!" Fred said brightly while George blushed.

Ron looked startled. "_Me?_ Why _me?_ Wait… George, you slept with him thinking he was me?"

George's blush deepened and he suddenly became fascinated with something on the floor. "Well… I was really drunk… it doesn't… It was just Fred being an arse!"

"Oh," Ron said, his disappointment so evident that even George could hear it.

"Ronnie…?" George said questioningly.

Ron blushed violently. "Er… I mean…" He sighed. "Bloody hell." He looked up at George and their eyes met. "I love you, George. I'm sorry." He turned toward his room, probably to disappear for a few weeks.

Fred smiled. _There you go, _he thought.

Ron stopped suddenly just as he was passing Fred. George was holding his hand and now forced Ron to face him. Fred broke into a grin as his twin bent down and kissed the real Ron much more passionately than he had Fred. And the real Ron was kissing back with just as much passion.

Someone whistled and the three brothers looked up in surprise to see that Bill, Charlie, and Percy had emerged from Percy's room.

"Finally," Charlie muttered.

The six boys sat around the breakfast table, serving themselves some of the delicious food Mum had left them. Ron and George were holding hands, making Fred wonder how they even managed to eat like that. Not that it was any concern of his.

A creak on the stairs drew Fred's attention, but he saw George and Ron's hands slip under the table out of the corner of his eye. "Good morning, Ginny!" he said cheerily when his little sister appeared.

Ginny looked suspiciously around the ring of grinning faces. "Why are you all so happy this morning?" she asked.

"No reason," Ron and George said in unison.

~THE END~


End file.
